[Federal Register Volume 88, Number 117 (Tuesday, June 20, 2023)]
[Notices]
[Pages 39908-39909]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2023-13067]


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DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS


Request for Data and Information on Minority Veterans

AGENCY: Department of Veterans Affairs.

ACTION: Notice-request for information.

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SUMMARY: The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Office of the 
Secretary, Center for Minority Veterans (CMV), is hereby giving notice 
of an opportunity for the public to provide available data and 
information on minority and historically underserved Veterans. 
Historically underserved Veterans includes racial and ethnic minority 
(Asian American; Black; Hispanic/Latino; Native American (including 
American Indian, Alaskan Native, and Native Hawaiian); or Pacific-
Islander American); LGBTQ+; those whose religious or conscientious 
identity, beliefs, and practices have been determined to be 
underserved; language barriers or are without citizenship status; and 
those in rural areas and on tribal lands.

DATES: Comments must be received on or before August 21, 2023.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: James Albino, Director, Center for 
Minority Veterans, Department of Veterans Affairs, 810 Vermont Ave. NW, 
Washington, DC 20420, email address: [email protected], 202-461-0500. This 
is not a toll-free number.

ADDRESSES: Comments must be submitted through www.regulations.gov. 
Except as provided below, comments received before the close of the 
comment period will be available at www.regulations.gov for public 
viewing, inspection, or copying, including any personally identifiable 
or confidential business information that is included in a comment. We 
post the comments received before the close of the comment period on 
the following website as soon as possible after they have been 
received: http://www.regulations.gov. VA will not post on 
Regulations.gov public comments that make threats to individuals or 
institutions or suggest that the commenter will take actions to harm 
the individual. VA encourages individuals not to submit duplicative 
comments. We will post acceptable comments from multiple unique 
commenters even if the content is identical or nearly identical to 
other comments. Any public comment received after the comment period's 
closing date is considered late and will not be considered in a 
potential rulemaking.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The Advisory Committee for Minority Veterans 
(ACMV) and CMV were first authorized in 1994 to address disparities in 
the use of VA benefits and services for five racial/ethnic groups 
defined by statute specifying Veterans who identify as Asian American; 
Black; Hispanic; Native American*(including American Indian, Alaskan 
Native, and Native Hawaiian) or Pacific-Islander American. CMV 
identified that in addition to the current racial/ethnic groups, 
Veterans of Middle Eastern or North African descent and Veterans who 
identify as belonging to more than one race or ethnicity would benefit 
from being included in the list of groups served by CMV and ACMV. 
Additionally, with the input of various stakeholders, CMV identified 
additional groups of Veterans that have been historically underserved 
by the Department and designated ``historically underserved'' Veterans 
as those who are LGBTQ+ or are members in any religious faith that has 
been determined to be underserved. CMV invites the general public, 
educational institutions, Veteran serving organizations, non-profit/
non-governmental organization and other Federal agencies that conduct 
research on and/or provide services to the aforementioned cohorts of 
Veterans to submit and/or comment on data and information on six 
priority areas: Demographic/Location data; Experience; Memorialization; 
Health; Benefits; Social Determinants of Health. CMV will utilize this 
input (information and comments, perhaps) to inform its effort to 
improve outreach, education, engagement, enrollment, advocacy and 
access programs for minority and underserved Veterans. CMV is 
specifically interested in evidence and research-based quantitative and 
qualitative information related to these six priority areas.
    Background: CMV was established by Public Law 103-446 on November 
2, 1994, in response to low utilization of VA benefits and services by 
minority Veterans. Public Law 103-446 defines ``minority group member'' 
as a Veteran who is: Asian American; Black; Hispanic/Latino; Native 
American (including American Indian, Alaskan Native and Native 
Hawaiian); or Pacific-Islander American. CMV is the Department of 
Veterans Affairs model for inter-and intra-agency co-operation, to 
ensure all Veterans receive equal service regardless of race, origin, 
religion or gender. CMV is focused on process improvement oriented for 
both internal and external customer-centric activities by assisting VA 
in executing its mission in the most equitable, efficient and humane 
way possible. CMV also supports the Administration and the VA's 
Secretary's Goals: Executive Order (E.O.) On Advancing Racial Equity 
and Support for Underserved Communities Through the Federal Government 
(E.O. 13985); VA Strategic Objective 2.1--Reaching all Veterans. 
Dignity and an acceptable quality of life are the products we seek to 
deliver to ALL Veterans no matter what their circumstance.
    Request for Information: CMV invites the general public, 
educational institutions, Veteran-serving organizations, non-profit/
non-governmental organization and other Federal agencies that conduct 
research on and/or provide services to the aforementioned cohorts of 
Veterans to submit and/or comment on data and information related to 
the following six priority areas: Demographic/Location data; 
Experience; Memorialization; Health; Benefits; Social Determinants of 
well-being. CVM requests available data and information on utilization, 
equity or demographic data and potential barriers that underserved 
communities may face in accessing and benefitting from the agency's 
policies, programs and activities on minority and historically 
underserved Veterans as identified. CMV will utilize this input to 
inform CMV's effort to improve outreach, education, engagement, 
enrollment, advocacy and access programs for minority and underserved 
Veterans. CMV is specifically interested in evidence and research based 
quantitative and qualitative information related to these six priority 
areas.
    Respondents should provide data and information on any activities 
relevant to the identified cohort of Veterans in related to the six 
priority areas and those that capture equity-focused health; 
demographics/location; benefits; experience; social determinants of 
health; and memorialization.
    Respondents to this request for data and information should include 
their name, affiliation (if applicable), mailing address, telephone, 
email and sponsoring organization (if any) with their communications. 
The deadline for receipt of the requested information is August 21, 
2023.
    Responses to this request are voluntary. No proprietary, 
classified, confidential or sensitive information

[[Page 39909]]

should be included in responses. This request for information is for 
planning purposes only and is not a solicitation for applications or an 
obligation on the part of the U.S. Government to provide support for 
any ideas identified in response to the request. Please note that the 
U.S. Government will not pay for the preparation of any information 
submitted or for its use of that information.
    Instructions: Response to this request for data and information is 
voluntary. Each individual or institution is requested to submit only 
one response. Electronic responses must be provided as attachments to 
your comment in regulations.gov. Comments of 7 pages or fewer (3,500 
words) are requested; longer responses will not be considered. 
Responses should include the name of the person(s) or organization(s) 
filing the response. Responses containing references, studies, research 
and other empirical data that are not widely published should include 
copies of or electronic links to the referenced materials. Responses 
containing profanity, vulgarity, threats or other inappropriate 
language or content will not be considered.

Signing Authority

    Denis McDonough, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, approved and signed 
this document on June 12, 2023, and authorized the undersigned to sign 
and submit the document to the Office of the Federal Register for 
publication electronically as an official document of the Department of 
Veterans Affairs.

Luvenia Potts,
Regulation Development Coordinator, Office of Regulation Policy & 
Management, Office of General Counsel, Department of Veterans Affairs.
[FR Doc. 2023-13067 Filed 6-16-23; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 8320-01-P